Ha, well. That wasn't so good! After a lively and close first half, the Knicks appeared to snuff the Sixers with an 18-point lead in the third quarter. And then everything happened! Derek Fisher dug a liiiittle deep into his bench a liiiittle early, and suddenly that whole lead was gone. The Knicks reverted fully into the worst version of themselves. Derek Fisher watched Jose Calderon get smoked over and over and over again by terrible-ass Ish Smith. The Knicks watched Carmelo Anthony, who'd been playing pretty smart ball on his balky ankle, try and fail repeatedly to beat good defenders by himself. Then Kristaps Porzingis ended a strong performance by banging his foot. Then Melo buried a stupid, unnecessarily late three to send the game to overtime.
With this clutch bucket, @carmeloanthony sends the game to overtime! 96-96 here @TheGarden. More bball on #MLKDay pic.twitter.com/OFL8BAeDuO
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) January 18, 2016
Then Dad Melo returned for the first OT. He made one beautiful pass out of a double-team for a big Arron Afflalo jumper, he swipe-blocked the air out of an Ish Smith floater, and he buried two big free throws to give the Knicks their final three-point lead. Robert Covington banked in a three to send it to a second overtime (and Melo bricked a wide open jumper) ...
Covington Insane. https://t.co/N1eWFlQ7lT
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) January 18, 2016
Melo with the move. Wide open. Yikes. Too bad Sixers didn't have another time out. https://t.co/KoQbWJHChX
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) January 18, 2016
... then ... LANG TIME!
Fisher finally let Lang spin, and he flourished both calming the Ish Smith tornado and rejecting picks to get to the rim. Good stuff.
It was horrible and stupid, but the Knicks won in double OT. Didn't feel much different from a loss, but it's a W just the same.